topic Everyone says you need experience to get a cert and a cert to get experience in Tech Talk

Everyone says you need experience to get a cert and a cert to get experience

ofir2001 — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 22:20:27 GMT

I've been going in circles for months. Every certification I look at costs at least a few hundred dollars just to sit the exam, and that's before any study material. I work retail, I cannot just drop that kind of money on something I might fail. A few people online mentioned there's a major security organization that offers one of their entry-level certifications completely free, including the exam, for people who are just starting out. I can't tell if that's still true, if there are strings attached, or if it's actually respected by employers or just something they hand out to anyone. I don't want to spend months preparing for something that hiring managers just roll their eyes at.

Is there actually a free way in that doesn't require me to already know people or already have a job?

Re: Everyone says you need experience to get a cert and a cert to get experience

dcontesti — Sat, 21 Mar 2026 21:29:23 GMT

ISC2 offers the Certified in Cybersecurity (CC). See here:

https://www.isc2.org/certifications/cc

The organisation has offered up to 1 million of these.

Regards

Re: Everyone says you need experience to get a cert and a cert to get experience

emb021 — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 15:54:25 GMT

@ofir2001 Yes, certifications cost money, several hundred. This is pretty standard.

No, not all certifications require experience. The better ones do. But the certs from CompTIA do not, nor do the ones from SANS/GIAC. Most, but not all, certs from ISC2 and ISACA require experience.

The thing is in cybersecurity people come into the field from other IT jobs: help desk, networking, system administration, etc. This is why even entry level cybersecurity jobs require experience. They may be "entry level" cybersecurity jobs, but they aren't entry level IT jobs. This is a distinction few grasp.

Also, networking with people in the field is how you will find opportunities. So if you aren't already doing this you're at a disadvantage. Get out and go to meetings of ISSA, ISACA, ISC2, etc, attend any local conferences (BSides or conferences run by local chapters of ISSA, ISACA, Infragard, et al). Use this to make connections, find out what kind of jobs there are, how people got to where they are, and what you can do to get there.